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The First Day of the Rest of Our Lives? GDPR Activist Complaints Allege Shortcomings and Seek Maximum Penalties
This is not an email about what the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is. We assume you've received dozens of those recently (including from us) . As those emails promised, GDPR Day 1 finally came. And it began with a...
EU Data Privacy Law Countdown – Who's Ready?
On May 25, 2018, the European Union’s data privacy regime is getting an upgrade (the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR) to improve individual protections. It will also, however, raise various new operations concerns. The organizations that plan ahead for...
SEC Charges Texas-Based Municipal Advisor with Fraud and Breach of Fiduciary Duty
On May 9, 2018, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") announced it charged a registered municipal advisor (the "MA Firm") and its owner (the "MA Owner") with defrauding their client, a Texas school district, in connection with multiple municipal...
DOJ ENRD Memo Blog Series: Enforcement Principle 2: “Enhancing Cooperative Federalism”
On March 12, 2018, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ’s Environment and Natural Resource Division (“ENRD”), Jeffrey H. Wood, issued a U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) memorandum titled “Enforcement Principles and Priorities” (the “Wood Memorandum”. The Wood Memorandum identified...
DOJ ENRD Memo Blog Series– Enforcement Principle 1: “Adhering to the Impartial Rule of Law”
On March 12, 2018, a U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) memorandum was issued by Jeffrey H. Wood, DOJ’s Acting Assistant Attorney General (“AAG”) for the DOJ’s Environment and Natural Resource Division (“ENRD”) titled “Enforcement Principles and Priorities” (the “Wood Memorandum”)...
Court Provides Further Clarity Regarding Scope of FERC’s Enforcement Authority
On March 30, 2018, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio issued an opinion granting in part and denying in part motions to dismiss the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (“FERC”) action seeking to enforce its assessment of...
Who Is Watching The Watchmen?: CFTC Penalizes Registrant For Outsourced IT Security Lapses
On February 12, 2018, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) settled charges against AMP Global Clearing LLC (AMP), a futures commission merchant (FCM), for the company’s failure to adequately supervise one of its IT providers, which led to the unauthorized...
SEC Charges Additional Municipal Official With Securities Fraud In Connection With Oyster Bay Loan Guarantee Scheme
On March 1, 2018, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filed a complaint in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York (“Court”) charging Leonard Genova, town attorney and deputy supervisor for the Town of Oyster Bay...
A Cyber Incident Moves Pretty Fast, If You Aren't Ready To Respond, You Might Blow It
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) expanded its warnings to public companies that generic disclosures identifying cybersecurity risk factors may be insufficient. Rather, the SEC seems to expect companies to conduct careful inward assessments that identify unique strengths and weaknesses...
CLOUD Act Aims for Clear Skies: Bipartisan CLOUD Act Seeks to Clarify Law Enforcement Access to Overseas Data
In October 2017, the Supreme Court granted the Department of Justice’s petition to review the Second Circuit’s decision that limits the reach of warrants issued under the Stored Communications Act (“SCA”). 1 Specifically, the Court will determine whether the SCA...
MSRB Comment Request on Draft FAQs Regarding Rule G-42 and Making Recommendations
On February 15, 2018, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (“MSRB”) published Notice 2018-03 , requesting comment on draft frequently asked questions and proposed responses (“FAQs”). The draft FAQs address duties of non-solicitor municipal advisors related to providing “advice” and “recommendations”...
SEC's Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations 2018 Examination Priorities
On February 7, 2018, the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (“OCIE”) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) published its 2018 examination priorities . OCIE’s examination priorities are described in five categories: (1) matters of importance to retail...
Surprise – EU Data Privacy Laws Could Impact You, Too!
On May 25, 2018, the European Union’s data privacy regime is getting an upgrade and like many operating system upgrades, the EU’s new approach (the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR) is designed to improve individual protections. It will also...
Hey, You, Get Off Of My Cloud – New DOJ Approach To Remote Data Storage
Last month, the Department of Justice’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, Criminal Division (“CCIPS”) issued new guidance advising prosecutors seeking enterprise customer data stored “in the cloud” to attempt to collect responsive information from the enterprise first, instead of...
Municipal Advisor Firm and Principal Charged with Fraudulent Practices and Breach of Fiduciary Duty as SEC Continues Enforcement Focus
The SEC charged registered municipal advisor Malachi Financial Products, Inc. and its principal Porter B. Bingham with violations of Sections 15B(a)(5) and 15B(c)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”) and Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (“MSRB”) Rule G-17...